Familiar Faces

So it's been pretty slow here at the ol' blog, since last week I was in Ottawa and didn't get to experience the joy of another clinic day here in Fredericton. Sigh. I hear that nothing much happened, although one of my escorts tells me that at some point there was a guy with a light sabre arguing with the protesters. A light sabre! That should get the point across (?).

This week I was inside, filling in on reception. I spent a lot of time watching what was going on outside though, and was pleased to note that Glare-y Mary spent a lot of time glaring. She is so awesome. It should also be noted that Peter Ryan was out protesting today, which is a rare occurrence (at least since I've been at the clinic). It looked like only God Boy was out today and not his little friends - very uplifting. SL thinks he looks like he doesn't want to be there, but knowing God Boy, I could see how he would enjoy it.

We had a couple criers, which is always sucky, because it puts other people on edge. Although it wasn't too bad today. People just get really freaked out by the protesters so that by the time they get inside, they're really worked up. It sucks. No one should have to feel that way about a personal decision.

I did have a surprise on reception - a girl that I knew. Not someone I know well, just someone I went to school with. I wasn't prepared because she has a different last name now, so when she came in it was all "oh. Oh. Hello." ie my normal awkwardness in situations I'm not prepared for (you should hear the messages I leave on answering machines). It was fine though, either she didn't remember/recognize me or she's just not as awkward as me (very likely), but she didn't seem to care. It's not so much that I care that people I know are having abortions (if I thought less of people for that, I obviously wouldn't be doing what I do), it's just that you never know what someone in that situation is going through and how they're going to react to seeing someone they know. There are some women that want to wait in a separate waiting room (riiiiiight) and don't want anyone to talk to them. Then there are others who don't care who knows it. So you never know.

Anyway, next week I think I will be back on the front lines, so I'll probably have more interesting stories. Yay.